Tag: annotations

Exchange proto-drafts with the person next to you. Your task as a reader is to help your partner create a plan to develop this proto-draft into a full-fledged essay.

Read the draft with a pen in your hand. As you go along, mark passages that strike you as strong, that the writer will want to keep pretty much as is, with a solid line. Mark passages that the writer might want to rework or cut with a squiggly line. Draw arrows indicating points where you think the writer could say more, develop their line of thought or add an example, and then add a brief note suggesting what that “more” might be. (See my sample annotations.)

Check also on some details. Does the essay have a strong title? Does the writer make the sources of their examples clear—whether these come from experience, observation, or reading? If the writer discusses other texts than Spelman, do these appear in a list of references?

Finally, while your main task here is not line-editing or proofreading, if a typo or mistake jumps out at you, circle it.

Take your time. I want you to spend at least 15-20 minutes working on this piece. Err on the side of over-annotating. Sign your name when you’re done so the writer can thank you in their acknowledgments.

Fastwrite

Add 200 words (or more) to your essay.

To Do

Before you leave today: Make sure you know when and where you are meeting with your GTA and me. Make sure you give each of us a copy of your proto-draft.